Free A Short Tale From Norse America: Young Ravens & Hidden Blades (The United States of Vinland) by Colin Taber

Young Ravens & Hidden Blades
    T he
two boys ran across the grass-covered hills under the midday sun. They dodged
shrubs and jumped lichen-spotted rocks that punctuated the thin soil. Neck and
neck, they raced down into gullies hosting sprays of summer wildflowers and
shallow streams, and startled birds and hares that fed and sheltered as best
they could in the windswept landscape.
    The
boys, despite pumping their ten-year-old legs to reach their destination, found
the breath to tease each other that the ghost of the Godsland Wolf was chasing
them down.
    “She’s
at your heels!” cried Ulfarr, son of Eskil, the founder of Markland, the new
Norse settlements in the west.
    Brandr,
son of Ballr, laughed, but answered by barging his blond-haired friend with his
shoulder to send him careening away. A few breaths later, he cried out, “No,
she’s not after me, but you! She wants the son of the man who came to steal
Godsland away from her!”
    They
both laughed as they raced on, crying out and trying to knock each other off
their feet.
    Soon
enough they reached their destination — the rocky shore where they had left
their raft.
    Ulfarr
announced, “A draw!”
    Brandr
laughed as they slowed. “I let you win!”
    Ulfarr
chuckled as he shook his head and waved his friend toward the raft. “Come, let
us get it into the water.”
    They
had put the raft together during the last summer, building it with driftwood
and finishing it off with some rope and planks. Godsland, the gateway to the
new western settlements for ships coming in from Greenland, held a fair supply
of both. Eskil had let his son take some off-cuts, as long as he promised never
to cross the channel or land alone in the rival lands of Lakeland.
    Dazzled
by visions of grand voyages, Ulfarr would have agreed to anything.
    The
boys went to where they had pulled the raft up, beyond the tide on to the
gravel beach, its oars stored safely beneath. They wasted no time dragging it
to the water before grabbing the paddles and pushing the craft out as they waded
in after it.
    Climbing
aboard, Brandr lunged forward to claim the front with a cry, “Captain!”
    Ulfarr
laughed and let him take the lead.
    During
their play, with no adults around, this was one of the few times the boys could
act as equals. Back in the village, Brandr was destined to always come second
to Ulfarr, first born son of the man who led the Ravens.
    After
Ulfarr took up his position at the rear, they both knelt, with oars in their
hands. The chilled water of the fjord splashed up between gaps in the planks
and sloshed about to wet their pants, but they were in high spirits and did not
care. With gusto, they began paddling.
    Brandr
asked, “Where do we go?”
    “Not
too far, we have only the afternoon.”
    “It
would be good to go to Guldale and see the village and ironworks.”
    Ulfarr
grinned. “You mean the twins?”
    Brandr
looked back over his shoulder at his friend. “If only we could see more of
them. Once or twice a year is not enough!”
    “You
think Karek is cute!”
    “No!”
Brandr protested loudly.
    “Yes,
you do!”
    Brandr
was quiet for a moment before shrugging, “She and her brother are fun to be
with.”
    Ulfarr
laughed before saying, “You do realise that to marry Karek would make Seta your
mother-by-law?”
    Brandr’s
eyes widened. After thinking on it, he sighed, “Seta’s not that bad. She has
taught the twins a lot about the forests. Her woods-people know so much about
the land, the beasts, and the seasons here.”
    Ulfarr
nodded as they paddled.
    Before
long, they had left the gravel beach behind them and neared the middle of the
wide channel. Ulfarr said, “Well, we won’t be seeing the twins; by raft, it
takes all day to get to Guldale and back.”
    “I
know,” Brandr said glumly. “But where do we go now?”
    Ulfarr
looked out across the water, thinking of what might offer the most adventure.
    The
steep shores of Lakeland loomed ahead.
    Brandr
asked, “Shall